On the Mets’ recent trip to Arizona, Francisco Lindor made a buzzworthy play at second base in the ninth inning, slapping an eye-popping tag to nab a Diamondbacks runner trying to steal second base in a tight game. It was a moment made for a social media clip, an example of Lindor’s wonderful hand-eye coordination and baseball savvy.
But the result of the play, a caught-stealing, also underscored what’s become an important part of the Mets’ defense this season – suppressing the running game.
The Mets used to be an easy mark for opposing teams looking to swipe a base – they gave up the fifth-most steals in MLB last season and the fourth-most in 2023. Now, at a time when recent rule changes make it easier than ever for runners to steal, the Mets have made themselves much tougher on basepath crime, thanks to an emphasis by Carlos Mendoza and his coaching staff and efforts to improve by both their pitchers and catchers.
Entering Wednesday’s games, no team had thrown out a higher percentage of runners attempting a stolen base than the Mets, who have caught 14 of 33 would-be bag burglars (42.4 percent). The MLB average is 22 percent. Two years ago, the Mets caught just 13 percent of runners trying to steal. They were at 20 percent in 2024, a season that started with a series in which the Brewers stole with abandon, embarrassing the Mets.
Only the Royals have allowed fewer stolen bases per game (0.18) than the Mets (0.44) this season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And the Mets have, by far, the largest decrease in steals-per-game in MLB from 2024-25.
“Mendy, from last year, he was really on this,” said Francisco Alvarez, who has thrown out 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) this season. “Like, ‘We gotta get better throwing people out.’ So we feel like we’re doing a pretty good job now and the pitchers, they’re doing a pretty good job, too.”
“The running game is definitely something that can get overlooked,” added reliever Ryne Stanek. “Obviously, with trying to figure out pitch shapes and the execution of pitching, in the moment, with the pitch clock, things happen fast. So I think having an actual, intentional focus on the running game is good.
“And I think it really helps that we have two catchers who can throw the hell out of the ball.”
Alvarez has certainly improved after he threw out only 17.5 percent of runners last season. This year, his average “pop time” (1.88 seconds) to second base and his average velocity on throws are both in the top 10 in MLB, according to MLB’s Statcast. He recently threw out Pete Crow-Armstrong, an elite runner, and the pop time on his throw to nab Alek Thomas in Arizona – the Lindor tag play – was measured at 1.82 seconds -- the fastest of Alvarez’s career, according to SNY contributor and MLB's Sarah Langs.
Alvarez says he’s worked on transferring the ball from mitt to hand and he’s gotten encouragement and help from everyone from catching instructor Glenn Sherlock to Luis Torrens, his catching partner.
“We talk,” Torrens said. “Now he enjoys that part of the game. He has a really good arm and he always throws over 85, 86 (miles per hour) and that’s impressive. He feels proud of being a catcher for the New York Mets.”
“He’s a great thrower,” Alvarez said of Torrens.
Indeed. Since 2024, Torrens has thrown out 48.8 percent of runners trying to steal, the best mark in MLB among catchers with at least 200 innings behind the plate. This year, he’s thrown out 53.8 percent (7 of 13) and recently nabbed Arizona’s Corbin Carroll, who has 94 steals since the start of 2023.
“I’ve said it and I want to keep saying it – once we got Luis last (May), we started seeing the difference,” Mendoza said.
Hayden Senger, a talented defensive catcher who backed up Torrens while Alvarez was on the Injured List earlier this season, threw out 3 of 5 runners trying to steal and remains a darling of the Statcast leaderboard even though he’s back in the minors.
All the early success might even be discouraging some runners from going, Torrens said. “You can prevent them by throwing people out and, also, then they don’t run on you, right?” Torrens said.
The pitchers have been doing plenty to deflate opposing running games, too. One scout from another organization who watches the Mets noted that their pitchers have improved their slide-step moves to first base. They are also regularly changing their rhythms on pitch deliveries, which can disrupt the timing of runners looking to snag a bag.
“I think that’s a big part of their improvement,” the scout said.
Added a scout from a different club: “When pitchers know they have strong-armed catchers back there, they become more confident and look to help them even more by cutting down their release times to the plate.”
“For us, it’s just giving the catchers a chance with good leg times, varying our picks and holds, so that runners can’t just pick a spot,” added David Peterson. “It’s mixing it up and giving the catchers a chance to throw guys out when they do go.”
“We work a lot with the catchers and Glenn Sherlock and he takes a lot of pride in the running game as our catching coach and he's all over it. They’ve got somebody good helping them out.”
The pitch clock, bigger bases and limits on pickoffs have all helped runners who have larceny in their souls. The rate of stolen bases per game is at its highest since 1987, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, and the 2024 season saw the third-most stolen bases in history, according to MLB, and the most since 1915.
“When I first came into the league (2017), hardly anybody ran because they saw it as a way to give away outs,” Stanek said. “Every rule change comes in to increase offense – there’s no real changes to help pitching, ever. So we just have to do our job better and make everything a bit more intentional.”
There’s still work for the Mets to do, of course. Runners have taken advantage of closer Edwin Díaz in the past – they were successful on 28 of 29 attempts (96.5 percent) in 2024 with him on the mound, including 6-for-6 in the postseason. This year, runners have stolen four bases in seven tries with Díaz pitching, including two by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth inning Tuesday night, so there’s been improvement so far.
That’s something the Mets wanted from everyone involved, from the pitchers who deliver the ball and hold runners to the catchers who throw to bases to the infielders applying tags. Both Torrens and Alvarez made sure to point out that Lindor and Luisangel Acuña have excelled around second base on steal attempts.
“Nowadays, this is an important part of the game,” Mendoza said of defending against the steal. “You know how aggressive teams are, especially in the National League. There’s a lot of teams with speed and they're going to put pressure, they’re going to try to take that extra 90 feet, and we have to be able to control that.
“It’s never going to be perfect, but we have to stay on top of it.”
